This is a journal of my Lake Anna striper fishing experiences. I have a striper guide service on Lake Anna. If interested, please visit www.jimhemby.com for more information. I'll keep this blog strictly about the fishing conditions. Enjoy!

All photos in my blog posts are clickable, so you can see a larger version.

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Friday, September 30, 2005

Sunny , NE wind, water temp 75*After getting beat up yesterday I was looking forward to an easier day of fishing. Caught about 30 nice shad and proceeded to run some shallow flats before the sun got too bright. Caught a few in 3 to 5' of water before moving out to deeper flats. Had a decent day considering the barometer rising so rapidly. Clients kept 10 Stripers for 50 pounds. Also caught some nice cats.

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Todays Forcast: Cloudy and rain, winds 30 to 40 mph with gusts to 50 mphWoke up this morning and went outside to get the boat ready and got blown away by the wind. Tried to reach my client before he left to cancel the trip but couldn't. Met at the marina and since we were there we decided to give it a try. Took 2 hours to catch bait, probably because of the barometer crashing. Had to fish in the only place on the lake where I could hold the boat, on a bluff bank. Needless to say, we had a poor day with catching on 3 Stripers and 6 Cats. Took no picture.

Monday, September 26, 2005

Partly cloudy, light winds , Water temps Mid 70'sTook about 45 minutes to collect 30 Gizzard shad before we could go fishing. My client lived on the lake so I decided to lay out my spread right in front of his house. On our first pass we hooked up with 3 nice Stripers. They were so excited they called their wives up and told them to look outside. They held up their catch and it was a good begining of a nice day. We started off fishing a point 5 to 10' deep in front of their house and later hit flats in the 15' range. Ended up catching some nice cats and clients kept 10 Stripers for 52 pounds.

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Sunny and warm, winds calm, Water temp 77*Started off the day serching for Gizzard Shad to use for bait. Took about 45 minutes to collect 25 baits and I laid out 8 planner boards and a bobber and proceeded to fish right where we caught bait. Before I got all the boards out we got jambed and I put Jonathan on the rod. We landed that Striper , finished putting out the rest of the lines and had constant action the rest of the day. I think we got Dave's son hooked on fishing. We had 23 strikes, caught a few cats and my clients kept 13 Stripers for 54 lbs.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Sept.21,2005 Sunny and warm, water temp 82*Picked up clients at 6:30 and went in search of bait. Looked main lake for a school of gizzard shad because thats where I caught them yesterday but all the bait was still broke up from the night before. Went to the back of a creek and found them in 12'of water, made 6 casts and we were loaded. Set out 8 planner boards, a bobber and a free line. Within 5 minutes we started getting hit. Had 9 strikes by 8:30 and put some nice stripers in the boat. Went and caught more bait and tried a different location. Found some monsters {for this time of year} and had our way with them until some idiot ran thru my spread and spooked the fish. Ended up with 21 hits, lost or broke off 4 Big fish, kept 12 fish for 71 pounds, largest striper 12.2 lbs.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Date :9/20/05 Sunny and hot, Water temp 82*I have been off the water for the last 2 months with a few exceptions due to the water being too hot for the fish to be active enough to entertain my clients. When the water temp is above 85* the dissolved oxygen in the lake is extremely poor consequently the blood oxygen in the striper is so bad that it makes the striper sick [like us being nauseated]. I have clients tomorrow so I am looking for fish today for them to catch tomorrow. Once the fish feel better and want to eat they want to spent as little energy as they can and eat as large a meal as they can so I looked for some big gizzard shad to run on planner boards. Ran boards over 10 to 15 foot flats and caught a few 6 pounders. Decided to find another pattern and went to the back of a creek that was loaded with bait, put out boards and spanked them. I came off the water at 1 o'clock , had 16 hits, caught 10 stripers, 4 fish over 30 inches, my first 4 keepers are in the picture. I'm excited about tomorrow and I guess I will call my clients who have been patient [ wanting to fish for the last month] and start booking trips for the rest of the year.

Monday, September 19, 2005

Date; Sept 14, 2005 Cloudy, rainy and windy, water temp 85*Due to hurricane conditions fishing was tough today and the fish were scattered everywhere. About the only fish caught today were caught by these two guys in a secret honey hole.All kidding aside, our prayers go out to all the people affected by the hurricane and there loved ones. Godspeed to the president and all the people helping with this tragedy.